Alex
06-09-2007, 11:16 AM
T-Mobile looks to withdraw TV sponsor
German telecommunications company T-Mobile announced on Saturday they want to withdraw their television sponsorship from the Tour de France's coverage in Germany in a damage-limitation exercise. Cyling's image in Germany has been rocked by several high-profile doping admissions from cyclists competing for the former Team Telekom, now known as Team T-Mobile, and now the company are keen to withdraw their sponsorship to prevent any further damage to their image. But German state broadcasters ARD/ZDF do not want to accept the withdrawal of the Bonn-based team, according to an article to appear in Monday's edition of Der Spiegel.
T-Mobile paid one million euro for the right to have their name appear at the beginning of each transmition - "The Tour de France is brought to you by T-Mobile" - but bosses fear this year's race will be blighted by further scandal. Now T-Mobile want the money to be transferred to the national anti-doping agency, ARD wants to find an alternative solution, but T-Mobile are insisting on withdrawing their sponsorship, according to Der Spiegel.
The German company's fears are not unreasonable - even though they sponsor one of the Tour's main teams - just last week Denmark's Bjarne Riis was stripped of his 1996 Tour de France victory after the former Telekom cyclist admitted he took performance-enhancing drugs during the race.
And T-Mobile have decided not to select their Ukrainian time-trial specialist Serhiy Honchar for next month's Tour de France following a suspicious blood test last month. Plus, one of Germany's top cycling stars Erik Zabel admitted last month he had taken banned blood-boosting drug EPO (erythropoietin) in 1996 while competing for Team Telekom. And Zabel's former Telekom colleague and the current manager of the T-Mobile, Rolf Aldag, confessed on the same day as Zabel he had taken doping products between 1995 and 2002. Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich was injected with the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin), according to a soigneur who worked with the retired German cyclist's Telekom team. Jef d'Hont, whose recent published memoirs have led to a string of stunning confessions from seven former team riders, has said he injected 1997 Tour de France winner German Ullrich with EPO.
SOURCE: SuperCycling
German telecommunications company T-Mobile announced on Saturday they want to withdraw their television sponsorship from the Tour de France's coverage in Germany in a damage-limitation exercise. Cyling's image in Germany has been rocked by several high-profile doping admissions from cyclists competing for the former Team Telekom, now known as Team T-Mobile, and now the company are keen to withdraw their sponsorship to prevent any further damage to their image. But German state broadcasters ARD/ZDF do not want to accept the withdrawal of the Bonn-based team, according to an article to appear in Monday's edition of Der Spiegel.
T-Mobile paid one million euro for the right to have their name appear at the beginning of each transmition - "The Tour de France is brought to you by T-Mobile" - but bosses fear this year's race will be blighted by further scandal. Now T-Mobile want the money to be transferred to the national anti-doping agency, ARD wants to find an alternative solution, but T-Mobile are insisting on withdrawing their sponsorship, according to Der Spiegel.
The German company's fears are not unreasonable - even though they sponsor one of the Tour's main teams - just last week Denmark's Bjarne Riis was stripped of his 1996 Tour de France victory after the former Telekom cyclist admitted he took performance-enhancing drugs during the race.
And T-Mobile have decided not to select their Ukrainian time-trial specialist Serhiy Honchar for next month's Tour de France following a suspicious blood test last month. Plus, one of Germany's top cycling stars Erik Zabel admitted last month he had taken banned blood-boosting drug EPO (erythropoietin) in 1996 while competing for Team Telekom. And Zabel's former Telekom colleague and the current manager of the T-Mobile, Rolf Aldag, confessed on the same day as Zabel he had taken doping products between 1995 and 2002. Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich was injected with the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin), according to a soigneur who worked with the retired German cyclist's Telekom team. Jef d'Hont, whose recent published memoirs have led to a string of stunning confessions from seven former team riders, has said he injected 1997 Tour de France winner German Ullrich with EPO.
SOURCE: SuperCycling